Columbia Road – Flower Market in London

I have been a market-person since I can remember. All I wished to do when I grow up, was to sell on a farmers’ market.

I recall it as if it were yesterday. I revealed to my mum that one day I would enrol on a university forselling on farmers’ market. What a surprise it was for a six-year-old to hear that she wouldn’t need to go to a university for that. Well, you can’t blame me since all the adults I knew had a university degree, so I thought that it was required for any kind of job. Today, when life has gone all sorts of directions, which I couldn’t imagine either as a 6 or a 16 year old, one thing hasn’t changed – I still love markets. However, I am on the other side of the stall than I planned many years ago.

Living close to London, the city that has abundance of everything, gives me an opportunity to explore its abundance of markets. They are not the Croatian type of farmers’ markets, but many have a different kind of charm. Here, the smell of world food and sounds of music wrap colourful bric-a-brac, designer and food stalls, while rivers of curious shoppers search for a staggering object that will brighten up their day. I can’t help myself and I visit them whenever I can.

I did the same today since I was close to the Columbia Road Market that is on all the ‘top London markets’ lists. And how is it? There is definitely a buzz, lots of colours, some antique shops, as well as a few coffee shops. Shall I decide to head especially there if I am not heading to its neighbourhood? No.

Why? It spreads, pretty much, along one street, which is too small for the large number of people around. The rest of the shops are nice, but there are bigger markets in London for that kind of stuff and I’ll tell you about them in some other posts. In any case, try to figure it out yourself from the photos and enjoy the colours!